When I have a minute, my mind ends up drifting back to Miley
Cyrus.
I know, right?? Crazy!
But her move at the VMAs this week moved me.
The backslidden Disney star eshewed center stage that night
for a 22-year-old homeless guy she met at a homeless center. Though was
described as model-handsome, I was strangely attracted to the message both he
and Miley conveyed while accepting an award for her wildly popular
"Wrecking Ball" video.
In classic wrecking ball fashion, Miley sent Jesse Helt up
to collect the award for the video. Jesse told attention-grabbing crowd of
musicians and artists that he was not accepting on behalf of the singer/performer
that night, but “on behalf of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in
the United States who are starving, lost and scared for their lives right now.”
Salon.com described him as arresting as he spoke about stark realities - during
an awards show that honors the furthest thing from reality.
I am blessed to work every day on social impact solutions in
Flint, MI, often involving homeless people - and structurally unemployed
individuals who are otherwise forgotten - or worse ignored - due to a wide variety
of circumstances.
But I also chair the Committee overseeing Young Life of
Genesee County, an outreach to youth in 6th-12 grades. In that capacity, I
regularly hear of the population that Miley and Jesse referenced at the VMAs.
It's the "1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in
the United States who are starving, lost and scared for their lives right
now" that can keep me up at night. My kids are 17 and 16. They already
both know at least one of their friends who are already homeless.
I heard a presentation last week that underscores this
crisis in Flint and America. Diplomat Nate McGregor reported that while LGBTQ
youth represent only five percent of the overall youth population, they
comprise 15 percent of those in juvenile justice system and 40 percent of
homeless youth. He weaved into his presentation the suicide of a bullied youth
from Fenton.
I can never ever consider this problem without thinking I
need to do something more to change the hearts and minds of our youth who are
deeply troubled and "starving, lost and scared for their lives."
And while I have criticized Miley at times for her jarring
antics, today I applaud the 21 year old who ended up sharing her moment to
address a problem that otherwise would be dismissed if she had not. That night,
she leveraged her celebrity to draw much needed attention to a crisis we all
choose to ignore far too much of the time.
Will those 15 minutes of VMA solve the problem? No but it
will raise the much needed awareness far better than any other costly
means.
Jesse closed his acceptance speech with, “a dream we dream
together is reality.”
May we together step one step closer to reality...
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